September US Natgas Rallies

摘要

A chink in gas market bears’ armor widened a bit last week when an already huge seasonal storage deficit unexpectedly continued to grow. But unlike the prior week, this time the market took notice, pushing the contract up into the mid-$2.80s/MMBtu and posting a 2.6% weekly gain. Nonetheless, the impulse to rally was still tempered by record production, which so far has proved a formidable counterweight to ever more bullish storage fundamentals. Add to the mix surging gas demand for power generation and exports and these key drivers have created a market balance that has corralled gas prices in the current $2.70-$3.00 trading for more than a month - both too low given probable storage levels Oct. 31 or too high with domestic gas production setting records.